Blundering Branches
by Seijinter
Summary: In which two friends tried to avoid plot.
1. Prologue 1-00

**AN: This story was originally posted on the Spacebattles forum. If you want the informational posts, you can check there.**

 **Please feel free to give some constructive criticism, as I'm interested in learning how to write well.**

 **This is a joint work between Orek and I, and we used the Worm CYOA v5 to come up with our situation and powers, although we took many liberties for enhancing the story. Mainly setting interesting limits to our powers and interpreting situations in outside-the-box ways. I know CYOAs are mainly curb stomps. Here, we're trying to write a story instead.**

Blundering Branches

Prologue 1.00

(Sebastian)

"Maybe hide here tonight?" I heard my friend Winter suggest.

I didn't need to hear his tone to see the weariness seep out of his slouched posture. The fact that his physique was now that of a super, multi-talented athlete only clashes with his current vibe.

He was well muscled, yet not too bulky. His body shape somehow conveyed speed and flexibility along with its power. The perfect combination for a stereotypical hero.

Or rather 'Fab', as my friend would have joked, maybe also strike a ridiculous pose while he's at it.

That's right, he would have joked, once.

Fucking Bakuda.

/* - */

(Winter)

I shuffled to the large metal containers and ran my hands gently across it with idle curiosity, "I mean all we need is some walls and we can settle. Worm's description was right, Brockton Bay really is quite temperate."

"I guess it'll do as a temporary hideout," Seb agreed curtly and remained alert to his surroundings.

I found my hand hovering around my midsection, gingerly feeling the stitches through my clothes.

Shaking myself from that line of thought, I glanced at my bespectacled friend. Sebastian was usually a talkative person who would even mention the most random of things that would appear in his mind. Our bantering and light jabs were part of a normal routine.

So I knew, just _knew_ , that Seb would have had more to say about the current situation. Yet it was held back because he didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing and hurt me.

I wasn't made of glass, damn it! If he had something to say then say it. Say it like how he would normally say it without needing to think too much about it. We're friends. There were plenty of things we had said about and against each other; arguments back and forth. But we still stuck together as friends in the end. Doesn't that _mean_ something? Wasn't there an understanding between us?

Sebastian, my friend. Someone that I'd known for at least a _decade_ , should at least be able to converse normally with me. But nowadays it felt like all we did was plan, execute, move on, and then do it all over again. Just an automated routine of escape and survival. Too many things happened for us to properly talk.

Fucking Bakuda.

Why did she have to plant a bomb inside me?


	2. Celamentum 1-01

Blundering Branches

Celamentum 1.01

(Sebastian)

The past few days had been, thankfully, quiet and we enjoyed another humble meal of cup noodles.

Dried, since we didn't have the means to even boil water. The down time had given us time to digest all that had happened to us.

Fortunately, a couple of cardboards padding the inside of the metal storage container we're hiding in was enough to keep us warm. The mood around us even felt a little civilised, or at least less dreary.

But the laws of entropy applied even here.

 _Especially_ here.

A loud boom struck the area, shattering our solitude and rattling the container. Confusion speared my mind as I tried to steady myself.

"What the hell?" I asked loudly, "Where did that come from?"

"I don't know," I heard Winter reply uncertainly, "Thunder?"

Not recalling a dark cloud earlier today, I snuck over to the entrance to peer outside. Just as I opened the door, an invasive gale broke in and wrenched it from my grip. It then blasted me and I took a step back, covering my face from its onslaught. Squinting through my fingers, I expected to see a raging typhoon in the sky.

The night remained innocently clear and peaceful as far as my eyes can see, contradicting the tugging pressure of the wind. Feeling increasingly bewildered, I struggled to shut the door again. Winter came over to help when suddenly the gust ceased.

Caught off guard by the lack of resistance, I fell back and the door loudly rebounded.

Now dumbfounded by the unnatural phenomenon, I could only exclaim loudly, "The hell was that?"

"Let's take a look," my friend suggested after some contemplation, "Quietly."

Scrambling to my feet, I crept outside after him.

The area around us seemed eerily untouched, aside from the occasional garbage strewn around us. We were alert to the slightest sign of trouble as we ventured further away from our safe house and it didn't take long for us to spot another strange phenomenon.

In the distance, there was an orange glow blooming out from a shelter, slowly expanding across the area. Normally, I would assume that it's an explosion based on my past experience, yet I could not hear any sound from its direction. The more I looked at it, the more I felt mesmerized by its shimmer.

"Hey, Seb."

"What?" I blinked, feeling momentarily distracted.

"Was that in the book?" Winter asked, pointing at the still growing glow.

Remembering where we were, I quickly cleared my mind and mentally cycled through the sequence of events that occurred… Or will occur.

Fuck, how did it go again? Wasn't this the month where the ABB acted out against every group in Brockton Bay but was in fact a distraction to release Lung from his prison?

Hm… something still feels missing though. What started this again?

Undersiders… Missing money… Storage lockers-

Oh shit.

"What?" Winter asked and broke my introspection. I had unintentionally voiced out my realization.

"We might have a problem…" I began slowly.

"Yes, I can see it," he deadpanned monotonously.

"So can I, but the real problem is where we are right now," I examined our surroundings frantically. My search was interrupted as the orange light suddenly snuffed out like a candle and a loud shockwave rang out.

"That was fucking Bakuda's bomb," I observed dryly, "Do you recall what happened after the Undersiders encountered the retro pair?"

"Uber and Leet?" frowned Winter, "Um, they fight, right? The Undersiders completely trash the two, but it was a trap-"

I interrupted impatiently, "-And then they were chased by Bakuda. Do you remember where?"

Rifle shots crackled in the air dramatically.

"At the… Oh," realisation dawned on my friend's face and he nodded to me, "Right, time to move out of Plot's way. Fast."

Right on cue, the storage container we were staying in suddenly exploded behind us and we were showered by debris.

We immediately scrambled for the nearest cover and waited until everything calmed down before peering back at the smothering wreckage.

While looking blankly at the combusted site, an amazing thought occurred to me, "Holy shit, so that's where the other bomb was."

" _Other_ bomb?"

"The one fucking Bakuda blew randomly after killing that civilian. What's his name… Park!"

Immediately, screams rang out and the chaos seem to grow from there.

Except it didn't.

The sounds slowly drowned out. Feeling increasingly alarmed, I darted my eyes everywhere to locate the cause.

A strong nudge on my shoulder brought my attention back to Winter, who nervously pointed at an oncoming dark shadow. It raced towards us, consuming light and sound alike.

It's the Undersiders.

Before we could react, the darkness swallowed us. Silence reigned supreme and I couldn't hear anything, not even the sound of my own breath.

I shakily recalled what I knew of Grue's ability. He generates darkness and blocks out frequencies. He doesn't exactly see the darkness but is aware of its location.

Although I cannot fully utilise the powers I 'borrow', it will still be enough to possibly save our asses. From here on, I pushed out with my senses, and looked past the physical.

My sight changed and five lights ignited into existence. Each with their distinctive tinge and radiance, I immediately ignored the one near me as it's from my friend, whose brilliance was more akin to a sun.

The other four were from the Undersiders. I quickly identified Grue's light as it paradoxically gleamed black and extended my sense into it. Giving it a sort of a mental tap.

Once the connection was made, I quickly withdrew back to my head and blinked. As if I was awoken from a lucid dream, I became more aware of my immediate surroundings. My hearing returned and even the darkness became less pronounced, more like a dark fog, but I can see well enough through it.

And the first thing I noticed was that the Undersiders were already upon us, close enough for me to see them in their full costumed glories. The very first I recognized was Grue with his intimidating skull-helmet. Next with the Venetian mask was surely Regent, and the girl with the domino mask must be Tattletale. When I turned to inspect the final member, I felt a small chill run down my spine.

Those yellow lenses. That insect themed outfit. It must be _her_.

 _The_ Taylor Hebert.

Skitter. Weaver. _Khepri_.

The main character of Worm!

… And also the 'Escalation Queen'.

While I was busy observing Skitter, I noticed Grue staring straight at me. Crap, crap, crap.

Feeling my alarm bells ringing, I turned to my friend and found him blindly groping around the ground. Grabbing one of his arms, I hurriedly pulled him to the side with the full intent to clear their way.

Things would have been fine if it wasn't for Winter's jitteriness.

He recoiled as I gripped him and instead yanked his arm back. Taken off guard by the sudden action, I was propelled toward the Undersiders' path.

"The fuck?" I managed a miserable cry before getting a kick in the head.

I also heard the Undersiders swear as they tripped collectively to the ground. There was a brief scramble as we all tried to get back up. As I stood and straightened my glasses, I saw the skull-helmeted Grue already in the middle of a swing at me.

I quickly ducked but overbalanced myself. Grasping for the nearest support, I grabbed Grue's trousers. Combined with our opposing momentum, a loud tearing noise was heard as we collapsed into another heap.

The darkness dissipated along with Grue's concentration and I heard Winter's relieved cry cut through the air.

"Thank God, I can see again," he looked toward my direction and his face fell, "I do not wish to see again."

Wondering what he was looking at, I turned my head and was greeted with an unforgettable sight of Grue's underpants near my face.

An awkward silence lingered, not a single person moved or breathed. Especially me.

The silence was broken by an explosive projectile striking a nearby container, consuming it in a ball of fire.

"We can't afford to waste time here. Let's go," one of the Undersiders said, unfazed. It sounded feminine and the voice wasn't muffled behind a mask, so I'd guess it was Tattletale.

They spurred into action and converged around Grue to helped him up. He then shook off their hands and nodded to them silently. In gratitude or embarrassment, I could not tell as I was already rolling away as inconspicuously as possible to Winter, who finally came over to help.

By the time I was back on my feet, the Undersiders were already sprinting away, covering their trails with Grue's darkness. Unfortunately, I could still catch a glimpse of him running while holding on to his trousers before he disappeared from my sight.

Well that's one part of the Plot we've avoided. Luckily, it didn't escalate much and that's the best I can hope for.

A jeep suddenly roared passed us, carrying a familiar gas mask crying out in glee.

"You're not getting away from me!"

Fucking Bakuda.

I shook my head at the direction of the fading jeep and turned to run. I quickly noticed that my friend remained stuck in place, almost as if he was in a trance.

Right. He's still freaking out about the bomb she had placed inside him.

"Hurry up Donic, otherwise your _girlfriend_ will realize you're here," I called out. Maybe it was insensitive of me, but I needed him focused and out of his stupor.

It worked. Winter shivered and turned to face me. His expression was hard, straining to not let his emotions show. He easily caught up with me and we bolted together in the opposite direction away from the crazy Tinker.

We turned the nearest corner and found ourselves greeted by old friends-

"Oh- Is that-!? Guys, it's them! Get the traitors!"

…Of the ABB.

We ducked back around as a bulletstorm threatened to envelope us.

"Run!" I panickedly pushed him back the way we came but Winter refused to budge.

"No! We go up! Get my powers! Quick!"

"Which one?"

"We're parkouring! What do you think!?"

Before waiting for my response, Winter took a running jump up at a nearby storage container. In one smooth motion, he propelled his momentum upwards, almost as if he ran up the face of the metal box. At the top, he crouched low and encouraged me to follow.

"Hurry the fuck up!"

Making up my mind, I once more delved back into my senses and reluctantly looked at the direction of my friend. His light briefly blinded me and I squinted hard to make out its vague shape. Unlike the others, Winter's power was different. It seemed more unstable, akin to a dying star that is pulsating with an alien glow.

I gingerly submerge into this chaotic wave, searching for a more familiar pattern.

I faintly identified his other powers, one of which was my current target. Just like with Grue, I tapped it and formed a connection. By the time I have returned to my senses, my body became lighter and stronger.

Without further delay, I sprinted to the container and tried to mimic Winter's actions. Unlike him, I only had a portion of his ability and experience in parkour, so my movement was more stiff and uncertain. Yet somehow, I was able to scrabble my way to the top, and was pulled over by a very exasperated Winter.

"Where did they go?"

I barely had enough time to lie flat and still myself. Winter, on the other hand placed a finger on his lips and had already laid himself on the cold metal. He then began to crawl toward the other side of the container. I simply followed his lead and heard the ABB members continue their search for us below.

I still have access to Grue's ability but considered against blacking out the area. No need to clue our pursuers in that we're still here, and my version of the darkness will be much weaker.

It's ironic, I think, how we relied so much on stealth through the mundane way to get out from under the ABB's rule. And now that we have powers, nothing have changed.

A loud metallic bang punctured the air, followed by a string of curses. At first we thought they were firing randomly at covers, but the following words dispelled that notion.

"Ow! My foot! My fucking foot!"

"You moron! Why did you kick a door with metal bolting on it? It doesn't even swing inwards!"

The container we are on trembled as the ABB members unlocked the door.

Winter gestured urgently for me to follow and slid down to the opposite side. Just as I was about to move, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Sssh! I just heard something!"

I ducked my head back and laid flat once more. Footsteps gravelled from below, and I heard them circle around the container.

I shut my eyes and prayed quietly when the movement abruptly stilled.

Why did they stop?

Did they see my friend?

Countless questions piled into my mind, trying to fill in the silence. Each one painted a darker picture and further burdened my unease. My heart quivered in fear and I could hear its beat drumming in my ears. Seconds passed agonizingly slow in this silence. I tried to control my breath.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

In.

Out.

In-

"There's nothing here! You found anything?"

"Nah those fuckers got away!"

"Shit!"

One of them loudly spat and the footsteps resumed, this time, moving away from my position.

Once I judged that the coast was clear, I risked a peek over the edge. It was a wide corridor made from two rows of storage containers. It was a straight path, yet I found no trace of my friend. Did he already run? But I still have his power, so he can't be far.

A movement caught my eye and I looked just in time to see the end of a coat whip into a gap between two storage boxes. As I was about to duck back down, Winter's head poked out and peered around cautiously, spotting me.

"Are they gone?" he mouthed silently from his cover.

Feeling relieved, I responded back with a nod and slide my way down to his location.

Looking closer, it was pure luck that he was able to find a gap between these storage containers that were stacked tightly together and hidden in the shadows.

His face mirroring my own, Winter was about to lead on when we picked up a familiar sound that once more inspired dread in our hearts.

It was a mono pitched, metallic grating noise, which we've come to recognise as Bakuda's manic laughter.

"How?" I stopped and stared at the direction of the road.

"What?"

"This is too soon! They should still be fighting until they reached an alley."

But the unmistakable roar of the jeep echoed from afar and the headlights of the vehicle peered out from the makeshift corridor. That was already enough for us to turn tail and run.

We didn't make three steps before the ABB from before jogged back around the corner. Luckily they were just as busy staring at the coming jeep to have noticed us near the containers. Seeing no other paths, we could only retreat back into the hiding spot Winter had used before. It was already a tight fit with him alone. He barely got in just enough to let me slide in and then we stood stock still, trying to remain as quiet as possible.

They'll notice us any second now, and the jeep's engine was close enough to be felt vibrating the air.

"After a whole month of avoiding Plot, we just had to fuck up here!" I heard Winter's frustrated hiss.

This was a bad position to be in. Stuck between two storage containers, it offered no space for us to move, and if they spot us, we're sitting ducks. I wracked my head for anything else that could help us, but the unexpected change of events in the Plot was too abrupt for me to come up with a plan. Instead, my mind kept falling into a daze as I realized that the only thing that I could rely on for these past months and surviving in this crazy world had become worthless.

"You! Yes, you!"

The close proximity of Bakuda's metallic rasp nearly had me jumping out of my skin, "Shoot him in the leg, but don't kill him. I want them to hear him scream. Everyone else, on guard!"

Before I could understand what she was talking about, a single gunshot penetrated the air. Again the proximity of it all set my heart racing even faster and I dare not move. Winter had stiffened up as well, and I can hear him fighting to control his breathing.

A muffled grunt was heard, straining to contain a pain-filled yell.

We have to get out of here. Before fucking Bakuda finds us and do the same to us.

I nudged Winter urgently.

"What?" he whispered.

"Can we get out the other way?" I hissed quietly.

He opened his mouth to answer, but stopped as he noticed the silent lull of the activity outside. We both tensed up again but a heartbeat later, the murmuring resumed.

"I don't hear any screaming," Bakuda complained in the background, "Kick him where you shot. We need them to know he's still alive."

"What other way?" Winter finally asked, ignoring the cry of agony.

"As in, can we exit that way?" I jerked my head toward the narrow path on the other end.

He craned his neck to look in the direction I indicated, while straining to minimize his movement.

Wordlessly, he began shuffling down the tight path, crab-walking with his chest and back occasionally scraping against the metal around us. Following after him, I only concentrated on moving my limbs carefully to avoid making too much noise. I could still hear the ABB making some scuffling noises along with Bakuda's yelling.

Too absorbed, I failed to even notice Winter suddenly stop, and bumped into him. I lost my footing and smacked heavily into the wall. The noise reverberated loudly and the activity outside suddenly ceased.

For a moment, there was no response from the ABB, but their reaction was merely a delayed one.

"What was that? Who's hiding in there?"

Shit.

"It's probably one of the temporaries. Let's flush them out."

Oh shit.

"Go!" I whispered hoarsely at Winter.

"But…" Winter hesitated, his head unwillingly turned towards our exit before finally making up his mind, "Gah, fuck it!"

He forged on with renewed vigor, not even caring too much if his knee repeatedly impacted the metal walls.

I can only go as fast as Winter did, and I felt a sense of déjà vu as once again disembodied footsteps closed in on our position. This seem to happen to us a lot nowadays.

While hurrying, I noticed that my surrounding was getting brighter. At first I assumed that it was the lamp post on the other end and sped up my pace, but as we moved closer to the source, it became whiter rather than yellow.

Normally, I would have stopped right there and check to see where we were going, however, Winter kept on moving ahead and I could also hear the ABB members racketing from behind.

With no other options, I continued after my friend and we stumbled into a wide open room.

Completely out of place, I gaped and looked around. Prior to today, we had scouted the storage area multiple times in order to familiarize ourselves for escape routes. Never once did we see any trace of this immaculate room in the neighbourhood.

I then noticed my connection to Grue's power severe. This must mean he's beyond my range now.

Winter stepped in close and nudged me, jolting me out of my reverie.

"I think we're in 'C'," he hinted and then surreptitiously pointed at the way we came in.

The narrow gap was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by a smooth metallic door that has no handle. Effectively trapped in, I turned back to have a closer examination of this room.

It was silent and clean. Although the silence was foreboding, for some reason, the cleanliness bothered me the most as it reminded me of hospitals with heavy smells of disinfectants. In the centre of this room was a table surrounded by chairs, all of them as pristine and bland as the room itself.

The more I looked, the more I felt like I was trapped inside a simulation of some kind. A lab rat for some impending experiment.

We didn't hear the door open but felt the atmosphere change as someone entered the room. Turning our heads, we see a dark skinned woman with a professional GP coat. If she had a stethoscope hanging around her neck, she would have completed the image of a doctor perfectly.

Standing with her was another woman. She was pale-skinned and wore a business suit, almost as if she had came from a meeting. Her hair bent a little in a circular pattern, as if she was wearing a hat prior and had just taken it off.

I inwardly groaned to myself. I should have already expected this when I had heard my friend hint it. We had escaped from the pan, but had dived right into the fire.

This was Cauldron.


	3. Celamentum 1-02

Blundering Branches

Celamentum 1.02

(Sebastian)

Cauldron. A shadowy organization focused on destroying Scion and preserving the human race of Worm. Regardless of their intention, it's obvious that they were worse than the ABB we just escaped from.

The creators of Case 53, William Manton's defection, the increasing parahuman population, and the ensuing conflicts stemmed from these two masterminds in front of us.

And they are regarding us silently. Almost as if they were examining a fascinating specimen from a lab. In our case, we simply stared back at them. Neither of us dared to break the silence, out of fear in offending the other party.

This rigid standoff continued for what felt like an hour until Doctor Mother silently murmured to Contessa who shook her head and pointed at us.

… Or rather to me.

Fuck me, why?

"Sebastian."

I flinched at Doctor Mother's pronunciation of my name. My damn name! She knows!

And she didn't stop there. With a slight tilt, she uttered, "Winter."

My friend's expression became stonier, as if Medusa herself was looking at him.

"Explain," she finished and resumed her observation.

Explain? About what?

I quickly thought back to our past actions that could have wrought their ire. Joining the ABB? Can't be that, they don't care about them. Bakuda strapping a bomb inside my friend? Why the hell will they care about that? These guys only cared about power-

Oh…

Thinking about it now. There was that time were I mistakenly drank one of Cauldron's vials back when we were kicked out of the ABB. If I recall, it was hidden within a vending machine in one of the empty backstreets within the seedier parts of the town. Feeling thirsty and frustrated by the machine rejecting my change, we… broke it open and drank whatever was inside.

Winter was lucky and hoarded all of the water. Whereas, I was looking for something sweeter and picked the first container that seemed to have coke. The warning signs were all there, no packaging, not in a can and instead of fizzy, it was more bubbly. But I was parched and ignored all of that. Chugging the entire content in one go, I only realized something was wrong when I began to feel a sense of vertigo and its apparent lack of taste.

At the time, I dismissed it as a peculiar drink of this world and had almost forgotten about the whole thing.

Now that I think about it, my powers manifesting afterwards should have been the biggest clue. Especially when I was on the floor thrashing around, screaming about lights and colors.

…

Oh crap. How am I supposed to explain all of these to the two people in front of me?

"Er," I started dumbly, "I mean, sorry?"

More silence. I could almost feel the pair suffocating me with their indifference.

Feeling as if it wasn't enough, I tried to speak again but was cut off by Doctor Mother.

"Explain, _how_."

"Well… You really should have hidden the vials in a better location," I weakly suggested, "Anyone could have easily broken into the vending machine."

A small chill began to emanate from Doctor Mother.

"Noted," she said, "However, to clarify, my question was, how did you avoid us for so long?"

"Avoid?" I echoed in disbelief. Did Cauldron only just find us? But we were tadpoles compared to the sharks in Brockton Bay. Or rather…

I snuck a glance at Contessa. After all, she has the power to control the future. Path to Victory. She should have already found us from the get go.

"We…" I began, but my sentence died as it started. I don't have an answer to what she was asking. "I don't know."

"Winter," Contessa, who was silent in the exchange, suddenly spoke to my friend, "Tell us how, and we'll remove _it_."

What was left unsaid was the bomb inside Winter. Typical of Cauldron, they have already known about our circumstance and weaknesses. Yet somehow we had avoided them…

"We really don't know. We haven't been actively avoiding you," Winter admitted.

He spread his arms out in resignation, as if saying 'take your best shot', "You have us now. What happens next?"

"You two are unknowns, and so deemed volatile," Doctor Mother said easily, "You will be kept in quarantine for study."

My blood went cold. 'Quarantine for study' was the same as a death warrant in Cauldron's books. We'll die. Not even a few months surviving Worm and we'll die here to some end-game level boss.

No, not like this. I took a few seconds to steady myself. A half formed plan taking shape in my mind, I spoke as calmly as I could, "I believe that's unnecessary Doctor Mother."

Good, I had managed that without a tremble or stutter, but there wasn't even a flicker in her expression. Yet she seemed more focus on me. Whether my decision was good or bad, I decided to jump in feet first.

"We know where we are. This is Cauldron. An organization behind the Protectorate. Created for the sole purpose of killing the Entities."

The line has been casted and the pair had taken the bait. Unfortunately, this piece of information had only convinced them of our death warrant. Afterall, Cauldron's greatest asset was its secrecy and would do anything in their immense power to protect it. Especially against two minor _unknowns_ such as ourselves. The only saving grace about this scenario was that we were in their seat of power and they were not in a rush.

I continued, hoping that my voice doesn't crack from the pressure, "Believe it or not, we are both from another Earth. Not from any known ones around here. It's a place where there is a predicted timeline of this Earth."

I waited for their response. Perhaps my perception of the organization was bad but I half expected them to scoff at my explanation. Their reach to the other Earths are vast so it would not be easily accepted.

"Predicted timeline?"

Er… this is going to be difficult to explain.

"Well… the prediction is actually in the form of a book that I had read-"

I felt the attention from Doctor Mother waver. Knowing that I'm losing their interest, I threw out a crucial line, "Which ends in the death of the _Warrior Entity_ you know as Scion."

The interest was rekindled and I noticed a slight raise of an eyebrow from Doctor Mother. All things considered, that's probably a good sign.

"I know, we know, and you know, that this a bold claim. So I'm prepared to list out what is happening in the backstages of Brockton Bay and what will happen next."

I took a breath and rapidly fired, "Bakuda bombs the city. Lung gets released. Villains bands together against the ABB and wipes them out. Both Bakuda and Lung are sent to the Birdcage. Bakuda gets killed by Lung-"

By this point, I ran out of breath and stopped. Instead, my friend took over.

"Leviathan attacks Brockton Bay. Armsmaster was discharged from duty-"

"May 15th 2011," I finished, waiting expectantly for their reaction.

This time, the Doctor's raised eyebrow was obvious to see now. Contessa was also at a loss of word which was a sight to behold.

"Bold claims," the Doctor allowed.

"Check," I addressed Contessa, "Path to Victory."

I thought the mention of her power would provoke a surprised response, but unexpectedly, her eyes narrowed, "Mostly true. Except for Armsmaster."

"What?"

It's now my turn to be surprised. I'm certain that this is part of the canon so why would Contessa say otherwise?

"Armsmaster will not be discharged from duty. He continues working for the Protectorate as a hero for at least another two years."

I felt like the world was slipping from me again. Recalling the deviation of events with Bakuda, I realized once more the foundation of the meta wasn't always reliable. But more importantly...

He doesn't become Defiant?

"'Defiant'?" Contessa asked. It seems like I've voiced my thoughts again.

"Armsmaster's new identity after his discharge. He should be partnered with Dragon..." I automatically answered, trailing off in thought.

If this doesn't happen. Then what now? How will this all end? Without Dragon to temper him, he would not have developed into a well rounded person- Wait a minute.

"What happens to the Undersiders?" I asked Contessa seriously, "On May 15th, did they manage to escape?"

"You don't need to know," Contessa deflected, "At the very least, Armsmaster will not be discharged from the Protectorate."

Looking at her stoic expression, I smiled wryly, "Oh right, Path To Victory cannot predict Endbringers. So you basically don't know."

The leading figures of Cauldron began to show a crack in their composure, and shifted their attitude to wary alertness.

"Who are you? Who do you work for?" Doctor Mother said sharply.

Knowing the Cape names of an individual was not considered to be that big of a secret. Word would somehow spread and attentive people can easily pick this up. Learning about their powers, on the other hand, would be more alarming and unnerving. Especially its exact name and specifications.

Guess I poked the hornet's nest a little too harshly. But this time, the position had shifted. _They_ were on the defensive now.

"We are who we say we were," I forced myself to meet Doctor Mother's eyes, "And we have no affiliation with anyone… yet."

They said that people's eyes were the windows to their soul. If this was true, Doctor Mother's must be as dark as the abyss. This was the person who would happily sacrifice thousands of people to save a million.

And I'm right here, hinting to her for a job into the organization.

"We will do anything to survive," I stated with as much conviction as I can muster and waited.

The Doctor kept her thoughts concealed and seemed to be analyzing me. At the corner of my eyes, Contessa was staring intently at my friend. Probably using her power to glean our intentions.

"May 15th 2011," the Doctor finally spoke, "You mentioned a Leviathan attack? Where?"

"Brockton Bay," Me and Winter confirmed together.

Nodding slightly as if she was ticking off a mental checklist, she inquired further, "Your power."

Understanding that she wanted to know about our parahuman abilities, I glanced thoughtfully at Contessa before explaining them.

Mine was fairly straightforward. I told them that it can help me see other parahuman's shards and their interactions with it. This allows me to extend into their connections and temporarily utilize it in a more diminished form. For instance, if I had tried to use Contessa's Path To Victory, it would likely only show me paths to completing basic objectives like picking up a pencil or something. In short, I have a half assed version of power copy.

What I _didn't_ tell, was if I strain hard enough, I can also teleport the parahumans that I had interacted this way to my location. Indicating that my true ability revolves around the connection of shards somehow. I proudly call it 'Parasight'. Pun intended.

Just as I was about to introduce Winter's power, they cut me off again.

"We have less than one month to verify your... claim," Doctor Mother said nonchalantly, "If Leviathan does appear, then we will contact you shortly."

"Door," she waved and a door appeared in the middle of the room. We could see in the other side a familiar location. The chilly air rushed in and carried the scent of burning smoke. It was the train yard near the lockers.

Also near the place we narrowly escaped from fucking Bakuda.

I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at Doctor Mother. If she wanted to kill us, there were easier ways.

But Winter, who was nearest to the door, was beckoning me surreptitiously behind his back, and was getting more restless by the second.

With a stifled sigh, I followed him out, while still keeping an eye on Cauldron.

Once we passed through the threshold, the door to Cauldron vanished along with its lighting. We were left blinking away the spots in our eyes, and trying to readjust to the dim streetlights.

We are finally alone.

"Holy shit," I crouched and hugged myself, "We got away from Cauldron."

My friend responded with a loud grunt of relief, "I didn't think we had reason enough for them to just let us go like that."

That or we didn't matter too much in their overall plans.

After half an hour of agonizing about our experience, we spent the remainder of the night looking for another container to hide inside and whimper some more.


	4. Celamentum 1-03

Blundering Branches

Celamentum 1.03

(Winter)

Just another day in shit-ville, doing jack shit, and only barely surviving. The only item we own between us was a cheap solar powered lamp. At this point, both Seb and I were in a heated discussion about solving our… dietary needs? Financial problems? Fuck I don't know. Our general shit situation.

Damn it, we shouldn't have gotten those bargain carrots as well. It was too expensive for us, even after Seb haggled with the fucking old lady.

Shit, I can't stop _swearing_.

Being forced into a gang, then going through hell to escape it, and now living in the streets. It gives you a new perspective on what you'd think of as appropriate when it comes to survival.

I'd like to say that Seb and I are now too jaded, and our moralities are more black than grey, but we're not that far gone yet… I think.

The things we've done were too real. The people who begged us not to harm them, too real. That one time Seb nearly had his head blown off, too real. Those Empire kids bleeding out, too real. The bomb inside me-

Fuck. Way too real.

I was still brooding when out of nowhere, a knock came from the 'front door' of our... 'house'.

"Who is it?" Seb suddenly yelled with a heavy East-Asian accent, "We no want trouble."

Oh boy, here we go.

He ignored the look I gave him and silently gestured to me, while picking up a metal pole. I picked up two and positioned myself at the door. The knocking ceased for some time and we waited tensely.

"Uh- You guys live here?"

"That's wight!" he continued to butcher the accent, "We no want trouble, we pay _good_ money to ABB. _NO. TROUBLE_!"

He emphasized the last two words loudly as if he was trying to drown out the stranger.

There was a pregnant pause, and I thought we were in the clear. Even so, I waited patiently for proof that he was gone, or otherwise. Whichever came first.

"You looking for some… work?"

Fuck my life, the stranger was still there. Points for professionalism though.

Seb shot me a look for some advice and I took over. That accent was making me cringe.

"Wha-" I cleared my parched throat, "What kind of work?"

There, perfectly normal. I looked pointedly at Seb, though in the low lighting it lost most of its effect.

"I will happily explain if you let me in please."

Seb quietly tapped the metal pole against his hand, signalling if we should knock out the stranger.

I won't lie. I'm pretty tempted myself, and after two short months of Brockton Bay, with a small side dish of Bakuda, we don't even think twice about causing bodily harm anymore. It'll be a very easy and blunt solution. Pun maybe intended.

But, knocked-out bodies needed space, and we have nowhere to drop him off. There's also the fact that, once the stranger wakes up, he'll remember where we live, and I don't feel like being chased again.

I shook my head at Seb and held up a finger to my lips. I gestured for him to stay there behind one of the doors. No point trying to scare off a chance at finding work. Passing him one of my metal poles, I placed my free hand at the door handle.

"Alright, I'm opening the door so stand back," I called out and turned it. This container does not have a lock on the inside, but we solved the problem using a length of scavenged chain.

After a bit of rattling, I cracked the door open, just enough for my face to be seen while readying my blunt instrument from behind the other door.

"A bit strange to be knocking on storage crates to recruit employees, don't you think?" I asked, eyeing the man cautiously.

I expected a shady, mousy sort of character, but the person looks almost too plain. Some non-descriptive white dude that I could pass on the street and never notice.

"Ah, yes," the stranger laughed humourlessly, "Well I don't think it's as strange as two young men staying in the middle of nowhere," he winked.

"I'm the only person here," I lied, "And my personal hobbies are a bit strange, I know. But it still doesn't explain why you'd knock _here_."

"It's not that uncommon to find a few people hiding out around here," he easily brushed off my prodding questions, "I also happened to notice your other friend skulking in the area. You two aren't exactly hidden here. But I digress, I'm not here to judge. Just simply to offer some work for the unemployed."

Oh, how fucking noble.

"And what work would that be?" I asked.

"My firm delivers shipments to people in need," he explained, "Very expensive shipments. Naturally, it needs security in a place like Brockton Bay. But we are currently, ah, 'downsizing' and have to make do with local manpowers."

Riiight. 'Downsizing'. I can almost hear Seb coughing out the words 'bullshit', if it were not for his need to be silent.

"Of course, you will be properly compensated for your labor," he added, inching his head forward, "Including your friend as well."

He was sneakily trying to peer into the container. Unfortunately, what he doesn't see was Seb hiding behind the door with two raised bats, ready to strike if so much as a hair pokes through.

"Do I decide now, or is there a way to contact you? I'll need to talk to my friend at his place."

"Please take your time," he nodded graciously and offered a burner phone, "We will contact you tomorrow for your response, mister…?"

"L- Uh, Donic," I stumbled, "Winter Donic."

"Very well, mister Donic," he nodded and departed the area.

Once he had disappeared, I made sure to check that no one else was around before shutting the door carefully.

"So what now?" I heard Seb ask bluntly, "Are we moving out?"

"You don't think it's a good idea to take the job?" I asked, "I mean I know that whole deal reeks of underbelly."

"'Underbelly? What does that mean?"

"As in, it's obvious his dealings are less than standard procedure, with a side dish of crossing the law," I clarified.

"Dude, anyone with half a brain can tell that the deal stinks," he shook his head irritably, "What I don't understand is why you think it is a good idea to take it."

"Oh yeah? It's better than asking _Cauldron_ for a job, like _someone_ here," I snarked, "Besides, we're about to run out of money, and we can't get legitimate jobs. We've got no ID."

He groaned and wildly shot out a suggestion, "Then we break into another building and grab some 'supplies'."

"Yeah, and draw heat and attention? Slow claps, bro. Let's just take the job, and if it get's too weird, we bail."

"The last time we got a job, we joined the ABB. This guy isn't looking for some shmucks for a quick buck. He wants meatshields," Seb snapped, "Honestly, who would want to hire _us_?"

We continued arguing back and forth but it doesn't change our current situation. We're slowly hitting that point of desperation where we need to make a play, do _something_ to get money. To get food. The catch was that it can't be too big of a play or we'll risk affecting the Plot again.

So we made a compromise. We go to the guy and hear what he says. If we like it, then we go along and get some money.

If not, then we mug his ass and drop him into the nearest garbage dump.

/* - */

"I'm glad that you have accepted my call," the man from before smiled.

It was late afternoon that he called us again. We met at the same place as usual which was the front door.

"I was afraid for a moment that you would refuse-"

I held up a hand, "I'm sorry to cut the pleasantries, but I'd like to cut straight to the meat. We're to be security guards of some sort, right?"

"That's… true, in a certain perspective," he deliberated slowly, "yes, you will be guarding our 'shipments' so you can view yourselves as such."

I noticed his slouched and withdrawn posture as he talked. He looked so stereotypically shifty, it's a wonder how no-one suspected him. If his hands rubbed any harder, I would smell bacon.

"Forty percent," that dreadful accent strikes again. Seb even squinted his eyes to max out his stereotype for the occasion, "No more. No less."

The man was taken back for a moment, "That's-" he began but got cut off again.

"Forty percent, real good deal," he then glared at the man and challenged, "Be a man. Do the right the thing."

I restrained from face-palming. While Seb can be really crafty when the situation called for it, we're not in any particular danger-

I caught a gleam from his slit eyes and instantly knew what he was up to.

I take back what I said, he's trying to fuck up the deal. He's in it to mug the dude from the very start. I can't believe how short-sighted he is!

The man was having some kind of internal struggle as he looked between Seb and I. After a while he finally relented, "I'll double your wages to ten percent-"

"Each!" Seb drilled further.

"Damn you! Each it is," the man swore.

Wait… That worked? I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, I would like to pat him on the back for getting us fifteen percent higher wages, but with the other hand, I wanted to slap the shit out of him.

I'm relieved that we didn't fuck up our job interview. We're getting twenty percent.

And the man still agreed…

I'm beginning to think the job description isn't exactly what was advertised. Either that or his business really rakes in the cash. I'm not optimistic about the latter.

Seb relaxed his eyes and became normal again. Hell, even the way he's speaking changed.

"So what will we be doing sir?" His expression was now radiating with eagerness and diligence.

"Uh..." the man fumbled a bit, not quite used to the sudden shift of Seb's attitude, "you two will be accompanying me to the drop point and join our team in escorting the shipments to the docks in the South."

Seb's expression twitched at the mention. Not a good sign in my opinion. I'm guessing there are Plot-centric things happening in that direction.

Not wanting to suffer from Seb any longer, the man waved at us to follow him to the road where a familiar SUV car was waiting. My mind briefly flashed back to all the times the ABB would get around in these. What was with everyone in Brockton Bay using SUVs?

Inside we were greeted with an all too familiar atmosphere. There was the tough guy who leered at us, the uncaring brooding guy hogging the corner of the car, the smiling guy that everyone ignores, and us two recruits.

Without any introduction, our employer went to the front seat and signalled his driver to move. It appears that we were the last ones to arrive.

/* - */

The drop point for their cargo was hidden inside a factory of all places. We entered when the sky was just beginning to darken and our employer retrieved the briefcase. Because of course it was a briefcase.

He shiftily unlocked it and checked the contents. Once he was satisfied, he announced that we were moving and headed to the exit. It was at this point we heard a loud gunshot and the briefcase spiraled away.

The others panicked and looked around wildly with raised weapons. Whereas, Seb and I instantly ducked, and hugged the walls.

Our employer had the same idea and ended up beside us.

"Who the _fuck_ is that!?" I yelled over several return-fire.

"It's him!" the man snarled as he nursed his stinging hand, "There's a Cape going around screwing with our operations. He's been hunting us down since last month."

"A _Cape_ has been attacking _you_?" Seb voiced my thoughts as he carefully scanned the area, "Which organization are we working for exactly?"

More yelling and screams rang out as the gunfight began to die out. Clicks echoed in the ensuing silence, as our team ran out of ammunition. But the unseen Cape's gunfire remain constant. Before long the rest of our group was wiped out, either lying prone on the ground or they simply ran away. It's just us three who remained.

Seeing little point in keeping up the charade, our employer confessed, "I work for the Merchants."


	5. Celamentum 1-04

Blundering Branches

Celamentum 1.04

(Winter)

The Merchants.

Bunch of druggies and drug dealers that sometimes delve into even more contraband 'merchandise'. I guess you could call them a large cog in the underworld's commerce. They mostly keep to themselves and don't deal in gang violence, instead they operate in leftover territories from other big players.

Compared to the ABB, they're a different species. Where the ABB were loot hoarders and pillagers, the Merchant were the vermins that feed off the rotting corpses.

And now our job was to play bodyguard to one of them.

In any other situation, I'd say 'fuck that', but the cold hard reality was that we needed money. An opportunity to build rep and get a bit of cash along with it wasn't going to come often. So even if there were guns involved, I'm still going through with it. My concern was with Seb.

"What's your call Winter?" Seb hissed, "We could always go with our original plan…"

"You mean the _backup_ plan," I corrected, voice low.

"Whatever it is, this plan of yours, it better involve me getting out of this," our employer, whose name we still haven't learnt, joined in, "I go down, then you two won't get a cent."

"Don't worry abou' it guv," Seb suddenly switched accent, "We'll get ye ou' of this."

He turned to me and silently mouthed 'original plan'.

I rolled my eyes and slightly shake my head. I've signed on to a job and I intend to finish it.

Without ducking out of cover, I surveyed the factory we were in, trying to see if there were other exits and found two, maybe. I couldn't confirm without moving further and getting shot at.

I strained my ears but I couldn't hear our ambusher either, so it was hard to try and plot out a less risky path to the exits. I needed more information, details. I stared meaningfully at Seb and indicated his eyes.

"What? Is there something in my eyes?"

I would have facepalmed hard if it didn't mean giving away our position.

"I need you to see where he is," I elaborated.

"But how would I see in the dark?" he answered back coyly, "My eyes are just like yours, Donic."

This friggin' ass-on-a-rotting-wooden-platter. He's really going to use this situation just to force me to say that ridiculous name.

"Parasight, you idiot," I forced the name through gritted teeth, "This is no time to be dicking around. I need his position-"

"You finally said it!" he smiled triumphantly and did a tiny fist pump, followed by urgent hushing noises from both me and our client.

He had always tried to make me say that stupid name out loud. Like how in fantasy, people call out their power names. This wasn't a fantasy, it's not a game. It's our fucking life, and it's on the line. I wanted him to joke with me again, but not like this.

Satisfied with himself, he closed his eyes and stood still. It was at this moment, that his usual expressions scattered and was replaced with some kind of tranquility.

He opened his eyes and stared vacantly out through the walls. He scanned slowly and frowned as he noticed something from beyond.

"I think… I found him," he muttered absentmindedly as he tried to focus, "The… hell?"

"What's wrong?" I asked, "Big power level?"

Seb had mentioned to me before that he could see an intensity of some form from a person's power. It _usually_ indicates the amount of trouble they would cause.

"It's-"

"The fuck are you two doing?" our client finally spoke up, "I asked for a plan and you guys start acting like you're high, does your friend need some kind of fix or what?"

"We-" I began.

"Shit, I knew that I should have checked you guys carefully," he ranted loudly, "If that was the case, I would have simply-"

"Okay, shut up for a moment would you?" I snapped, "Seb? The problem?"

"Our… _friend_ is camping by the roof of that house," he jerked his thumb to the direction, "He's alone and hadn't moved at all."

"Can you tell…" I hesitated a glance at our client, "How does his shard feel?"

By this point, our client had shifted away from us and seem to be vigilantly looking anywhere but us. Okay, even I can see how wrong that sentence can be taken without the proper context.

"Couldn't tell. He turtled up when I was peeking," Seb answered back, without caring about the innuendos, "Someone will have to get him going."

The saying 'be careful what you wish for' ran through my mind as our client bolted in a mad dash towards one of the exits. While running, he snatched the briefcase along the way.

The lock on the case had to be broken since some of the contents slipped out and landed with a loud slap that echoed throughout the empty factory. You would think that a normal person would have legged it by this point, but our client decided to stop and scramble for the drug packets.

I wanted to turn away because I knew that he'd get shot. Any ambusher or hitman worth his salt would be waiting for this moment.

"Ah," I heard Seb announce and the gunshot rang out.

Our client was now on the ground, unmoving. Well there goes our chance at survival.

…I just saw a man get shot down and thought of it as a set back to my financial crisis. Since when had I become so callous?

Fucking Bakuda.

There was a sudden flurry of activity as our seemingly fallen client jumped up and ran straight through the exit. The ambusher must have been as surprised as I was, given the few delayed shots landing on the walls.

Now that I think about it, the lack of blood should have clued us in that our client played possum.

"Well there goes our client," Seb observed drily, "We are now back to where we started, getting shot at."

"I think it's still salvageable," I said, "If the Cape is scrub enough to not have locked down the perimeter when we got here, then maybe he'll chase the dude too instead of waiting at the entrance. We can turn this around on him. You got his power?"

"Yeah, but you won't believe this, he's a cheater," he replied dramatically, "Infinite ammo."

"Just that?"

"Well… he does have two others, but he hasn't used them yet," Seb frowned, "Might simply be that he doesn't know about them or he's using them subconsciously."

"Right," I acknowledged, my mind racing through a half formed plan, "Is he going after our client?"

"Let's see…" he regarded the wall one more time, "Yep, that menacing orange glow is on the move."

"Is he coming closer?"

He grinned and nodded to me.

Perfect.

I checked my pocket for the burner phone our client gave us. Wouldn't do to take down a Cape without our client knowing about it.

"Alright," I looked up to the second floor's railings,"Let's get the _drop_ on him."

After carefully explaining my plan to Seb, I quickly and quietly ran up to the second floor while my friend makes his way to the 'bait spot'. His power allowed him to keep track of the shooter's position and stayed out of sight. We barely had enough time to get into position when a figure emerged directly from the entrance.

He's wearing a blue skin tight outfit with gun holster harnesses, and on his head was a color complementing, open-faced, biker helmet with tinted goggles hiding his eyes. His mouth was covered by a handkerchief scarf, completely obscuring his identity but not his lacking sense of fashion.

He swept the area with a rifle of some make, completely failing to look up.

That's the problem about new Capes. They have supernatural power, yes, but they lack experience. A Cape this green and running in blind probably only knew about his one power. And if infinite ammo was all he had, then we need only to remove his advantage.

Ridiculous costumes like this amateur's will be the death of him. That biker helmet and stupid goggles limits his vision. If he had something more practical, he might have had a chance at spotting me on this catwalk.

Right on cue, Seb began his distraction.

"Don' shuut! Don' shuut!" another horrible accent emerged from his private collection of bad voices. It's so bad I couldn't even tell what accent it was, "We hurt! We surrender, ya? Good American hero beats us, ya?"

From my vantage point, I saw the shooter pause and lower his gun a few notches. Well, if it's one thing about Seb's ridiculous antiques, it makes for a great distraction.

"You… I…" the Cape stuttered. A rookie mistake.

"Halp my friend, ya?" Seb dragged and shooked one of the, probably, dead bodyguards. I recognized him as the one who sneered at us in the SUV. Talk about pettiness.

"Stay back," the rookie readied his weapon again and attempted a menacing warning, "Get down on the ground."

Seb dropped to the ground while still holding on to the bodyguard. Probably so that he could use the body as a bullet sponge in a pinch. Devious.

"Where is he?" he cut to the chase, trying to build back the lost momentum. Unfortunately for him, he was talking to Seb.

"Who?"

"Your boss," he emphasized dramatically, "Richard Picard."

"Who?"

Running out of patience, he tilted the gun to the side and fired at the ground before aiming back at Seb, "I don't have time for your games. Tell me where he is. Now!"

"Okay, okay!" Seb returned back to his horrible accent and curled up, "He's at _pok gai ah lei_."

"What's that? He's at where?" the Cape approached closer for clarification. Another rookie mistake, and the last one he'll make today.

I vaulted over the railing with minimal noise and felt the rush of air whip past my ears. There was a moment when my heart nearly leapt into my mouth from the drop, but I concentrated on my landing.

I planted my feet right into his unguarded back, riding him down to the ground with a loud crack and smoothly rolled to my feet. I then spun around and kicked his rifle away in one motion before he could recover.

Winded, he was slowly propping himself up to his elbows and I kicked that out from under him too. Although he fell back, something had still impacted my arm. It didn't hurt much, but I spun around to face my unknown assailant.

Scanning left, right, and importantly, up, I found no trace of another attacker.

"Relax! It was just him," Seb unceremoniously pushed his 'meatshield' away from him and approached.

As the Cape tried to get up again, Seb shoved him back down to the ground and restrained him with an arm lock.

"Well well well," he then whispered 'evilly' to his prisoner's ear, "Isn't this… interesting."

"Let me go!" the Cape yelled and tried to break free.

"No, keep him there, Joker," I told Seb, "I'll need to make a call to this 'Richard' person."

/* - */

"I'm… shocked," our employer, or rather, Richard, greeted us from the safety of the SUV. He maliciously looked at the tied up captive. We somehow managed to find some zip ties to restrain this rookie. Once we brought him to the car, Richard pulled out his gun to the rookie's head.

"Careful boss," Seb cautioned and slightly pulled the prisoner back, "Hurt our friend here and it will hurt all of us."

"Is that a threat?" Richard inquired harshly.

"Uh, no, we mean that literally," I interjected, "I kicked his arm and my own hurt."

"Basically, he can disperse damage to others," Seb supplied, "You shoot him in the head then we will all get the mother of all headaches."

He emphasized by tapping his knuckle on the prisoner's head, the rookie struggled furiously.

"Then what do you propose we should do with this little shit?" Our employer spat, "We are not bringing him to the rendezvous point."

We all paused in thought.

Information, I need information on the rookie. So I asked him, "What do you hope to even accomplish by attacking us?"

"You're villains, what other reasons are there?" the Cape snarled.

"Isn't that nice, we have a Batman junior here," Seb mocked, "What are you? Robin?"

The Cape flinched. An odd reaction, but I don't have anything to go on so I dismissed the thought.

"A vigilante," I surmised, "I think I have a place we can ditch him."

"Ooo. You made boss's right hand man mad," Seb joked, "You going to wish that you picked a different group to mess with."

"Do your worst!" the rookie bravely yelled.

"Famous last words," Seb nodded sagely.

"I think our old friends would appreciate this gift," I muttered ominously.

/* - */

We dropped him into a 'heat zone' controlled by the ABB. Even though it was some time ago that we were in the gang, we still recall all of the information gathered from there.

For starters, the ABB are always vying for control over territory with its local rivals, especially E88. The slightest dirty look could spark a gunfight in the streets.

It was here that we dropped our gift.

Feeling a bit charitable to the poor guy (Seb's words not mine), we undid his zip ties and booted him out to the streets.

I then aimed the Cape's rifle at a chinese restaurant flying the ABB colours, and shot at one of the windows. Then I threw the empty rifle at its confused owner, who fumbled to catch it. In the background, shouts and screams were heard from the building as the residents begin to come out for blood.

"Run, Forest! Run!" Seb called out from the window as we made our hasty escape from the ensuing chaos. The driver pulling sharp turns to mimic a panicked civilian to cover our flight.

Ignoring the noise in the background, Richard had a calculating look on his face. Upon noticing my inquisitive glance he spoke up, "So, how exactly were you able to deal with a Cape?"

"Trade secret!" Seb piped in before I could reply.

Frowning slightly in contemplation, he ventured carefully, "You two were hired to be security for this… one time job. Do you two feel that it was worth the pay?"

There's a time to be reserved to please and gain favours, and there's a time to be ruthless.

"I'd feel better if we get at least triple on our stated agreement," I said.

"Then how about… partnership? With _us_?"

"'Us' as in Merchant?" Seb gestured dramatically, "We're not _high_ enough to meet your standards."

Richard smiled, "Everyone knows that sampling your own goods in this business leads to your own doom. How about this? You don't have to join Merchant, but we can be… _colleagues_ in the trade."

This. This might be our lucky break. We took a risk with fighting an unknown Cape and now we have a shot at not living in a fucking metal crate, eating cup noodles that taste like cardboard-

"Fuck that," my friend, would of course, disagree with common sense.

"Just, give us a moment, Richard," I stalled.

I turned sharply to Seb and he knew my question without me voicing it.

"This is the _Merchant_ , Winter," he emphasized, "We didn't just get out of one gang to go into another."

"It's either this or more of that shitty cup noodles," I said bluntly, "If you have any better ideas, I'm all ears."

"We already got the money from this job, there's no need to go too far," he then trailed off pointedly, "If we get too involved…"

Gah! This chicken shit! You can't survive without taking risks in a world like this one.

"Just give this a go," the prospect of us bailing when we want to was left unsaid for our present audience, "Because if we continue like this, we won't even last until the 15th. And even if we do, what the heck are we going to do _after_? There'll be nothing."

He was silent. It took a while before he spoke again.

"I understand what you are saying and that we _need_ this. But once we go through with this, it's the point of no return and we will be in uncharted territory."

"So that's it? That's your final answer?" I asked.

"It's a final warning," he sighed wearily, "but if you feel that this is more important, then I will stick with you."

And just like that, we're back in time of the ABB, back to when every answer to a risky situation would fall to my shoulders.

That alone made me hesitate, second guess my resolution. I weighed my options. Keeping out of gang activity would better serve our health in the long run. He's right, once we go down the slippery slope, it'll be hell getting back up.

On the other hand though, there will be close to no slope to keep from sliding down if we don't have a means of staying afloat.

With a sigh, I turned to the patiently waiting Richard and held out a hand, "Colleagues."

"Colleagues," he agreed and shook.

"Colleagues," Seb echoed unnecessarily.


	6. Interlude (Richard Picard) 1-a

Blundering Branches

Interlude 1.a

(Richard Picard)

Richard Pickard of the Merchants sat lazily at his study desk, taking a sip of red wine and set the glass down beside the pile of mail he was sorting through. He had to go through the pile a second time when he inevitably lost concentration, thinking about the recent events. It had been three days since the recruitment of his… partners.

At first, he was patting his back for being able to acquire their assistance into his position without making too much of a loss. The very first mission he had given them on day one was to safeguard another high value shipment which went smoothly without any incident. The cargo itself costs around seven thousand five hundred dollars in the black market. As usual, forty percent of the overall profit goes straight to the organization which leaves the remaining four thousand five hundred to be split three ways.

However, the unhinged one, Sebastian, had unreasonably demanded for almost ninety percent of the profit share. Naturally, Richard tried to refuse, but after a lengthy, nonsensical argument, he resignedly settled to give them the four thousand and fifty dollars to have a chance to get away. It didn't matter too much to him anyway.

On day two, they were sent to collect debts from several customers. Word from higher up informed that they should be sent to some of the newer debtors to see what kind of impression they will make. As expected, they were able to cow and collect the owed sum while maintaining the vicious reputation of the organization.

They didn't make any newbie mistakes of squirrelling away the money and returned the full amount. Even with Sebastian's particular brand of crazy, they were conveniently reliable with money. There was no need for Richard to intervene and cover up their mistakes. Reclining back in his seat, he allowed himself a celebratory sip of wine at that.

From this line of work, he was able to earn the usual wage in Merchant but Sebastian had once more struck again. He demanded another lionshare of the payment which Winter hesitantly joined in. By this point, Richard was already beginning to feel annoyed. However, he maintained his patience and negotiated with them to settle for half of the pay.

Again, it didn't matter too much to him how much he earns as the bulk of his paycheck comes from other sources. However, he needed to keep up an appearance so Sebastian and Winter wouldn't get suspicious.

As an agent of Cauldron, he was recently tasked to watch over them but the pair kept pushing his boundaries which is making it difficult to maintain his guise as a Merchant. It was almost as if they wanted to be kicked out.

Oh sure, the agreement Richard had with the two were to be partners, that was to say: to be separate from Merchant. But knowing how the druggies operated, the duo might as well already be part of the gang. Most Merchant members were recruited this way; they were already in before they knew it. This suited him as it made it easier to monitor their activities.

He was also beginning to pick up on their habits and the tell tale signs of parahuman abilities. But aside from the incident with that Cape from the other day, there were no further opportunities to expose them. It was quite regretful that he had to leave the scene early as his role restricted himself to be the 'cowardly Richard' that they'd come to know.

Setting aside the mail for now, he crossed his arms as he reviewed his primary directives from Cauldron once more. Monitor the two outside elements called Sebastian and Winter for suspicious activities or contacts with other foreign organizations.

His second order was to cross check their shard powers with their statements in Cauldron for any omission and eliminate them if necessary. He was provided with the hard deadline of May 12th. Why Cauldron had assigned this time period was unexplained but it was not unusual. Perhaps a precaution of some sort from the organization's rumored boogieman.

He shook his head clear of those thoughts. Pondering the actions and reasons of the higher ups can lead to… _terminal_ complications.

A bit worrying, considering that even with the month's time left, he was uncertain if he could easily achieve the second objective. He would need to somehow force the pair into the Cape spotlight to use their powers as they had been careful to hide their parahuman status.

He sighed and rubbed his temples tiredly. The clock on the desk signified it was already past midnight and he was long overdue from his repose. He pushed the chair back and got up, disturbing the fragile pile of papers on the desk and a letter with a discreet mark slipped to the ground.

He bent over, retrieved it, and his eyes tightened upon recognizing the coded pattern of the content. This was the letter issued out from the Merchant's higher echelons. Sometimes, their competence surprises him. As he read through the letter carefully, a smile began to spread as the doubts in his mind cleared.

This. This will achieve his goals.

He smiled at his good fortune, perhaps a little too widely as he imagined the insufferable pair's reactions. A bonus sight to see to be sure. A few phone calls and well choiced words will see to that.

He folded the letter gently, placed it back on the pile, and finished his beverage in one cheery swig.

He slept well for the night.


End file.
